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Pr£servingYlmUer. 



By EDV/ARDS R. ANDREV^S. 



REPRINTED FROM THE 




JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, 

For February and March, 1878, 

With Supplementary Letters and Certificates. 

PHILADELPHIA: ^ 

Wm. p. Kildare, Printer, 734 & 736 Sansom Street. 



1878. 




^ 



N^W^ 



Wood thoroughly Creosoted is practically Imperishable.'' 



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Processes and Apparatus 



— FOR — 



PRESERVINa ^WOOT>. 



Patented m the United States, Great Britain, France 

and Belgium. 



Edward R. Andrews^ 

PROPRIETOR, 

Office, No. 4 P. O. Square, Boston. 



A. Street, Soutli Soston. 



Contracts taken for furnishing ('reosoted L\niibcr or Rail- 
road Ties. Contractors,. ct(\, can furnish their own hunber 
for treatment. 

Licensees <irante(l for th(^ us(^ of tlie Hayford patcnits. under 
a Rovaltw 



[Reprinted from the Journal of the Franklin Institute, February and March, 1878.] 



THE HAYFORD 

Process iP bnum m hiimm Tjiran, 



By Edward R. Andrews, of Boston.' 



Mr. President and Gentlemen, Members of the Franklin Institute :: 
— I wish to invite your attention, this evening, to a consideration of" 
the natural and mechanical principles involved in the *' Improved: 
Processes and Apparatus for Preserving Wood," patented by Ira 
Hayford, Boston. 

As introductory to the main subject, a few statistics of the 
rapid consumption of the timber of this country, an explanation of 
the causes of decay in wood, and the scientific principles which are 
the basis of every successful method of arresting and preventing 
decay, will not be out of place. 

The subject of ivood-preserving has not received the attention of 
scientific and practical men in this country, which its importance as 
a valuable industry demands for it. In Europe it is not only well 
understood, but preserved wood is generally used. 

Maxime Paulet, a French chemist, in a large octavo volume on this 
subject, published in 1874, mentions not less than 173 different pro- 
cesses and apparatus, which have been patented or described in, 
scientific works since the year 1700. 

The most valuable systems were discovered between 1832 and 
1838. Kyan, Bethell, Burnett, and Boucherie — whose names have 
been given to the methods employing corrosive sublimate, creosote,, 
chloride of zinc, and sulphate of copper — ^introduced their several 

i Paper read before the Franklia Institute, January 16th, 1878, and before the 
American Soc. of Civil Engineers, New York, Jan. 29th, 1878, 

(1) 



systems during that short period. All of these are in use in Europe, 
and scarcely any others ; three of them, to a very limited extent, 
in this country. 

In Europe, the use of preserved timber is the rule ; here, it is the 
rare exception. Abroad, no question arises as to using preserved 
wood, and seldom as to the method ; except in France, where sul- 
phate of copper is largely used for railway ties, the Bethell system, 
or the impregnation of the pores of wood with the heavy oils of tar, 
known as creosote oils, has almost entirely superseded every other 
system. 

In this country, the apparently inexhaustible supply of timber has 
retarded the general use of preserved wood. Yet, for some years, it 
has become evident that our supply is not inexhaustible. The drain 
is enormous ; many parts of our country have been stripped of forests 
altogether. The statement is made, in Scribners Monthly for 
December, that the annual lumber product of the whole country is 
ten thousand millions of feet. A very considerable portion of this 
product is to replace what was cut four to ten years before, and has 
decayed. 

Consider for a moment the consumption of wood in the one item 
of railroad ties. Massachusetts, employing mostly chestnut ties, 
which last on an average six years, uses up in this way, annually, 
a volume of lumber nearly equal to the whole product of Maine ; 
and the 80,000 miles of track in the whole country, allowing four 
years as the average life of ties, actually use up in ties alone one 
thousand six hundred millions of feet annually, or equal to one-sixth 
of the timber product of the whole country. . 

Add to this the consumption of wood for fences along the lines of 
railways, the bridges, platforms, etc., and it is easy to see that if 
some effort be not soon made to lengthen the life of railroad timber, 
the supply will become insufficient. 

There are also 76,000 miles of telegraph poles, requiring for their 
renewal annually 43,620,000 feet of wood, or nearly equal to the 
product of the State of Maine. Telegraph poles were first creoscted 
in England, twenty-seven years ago, and are as sound as at first, to- 
day. The English government is now creosoting all the telegraph 
poles in the United Kingdom. 

In view of these facts, added to the cost of labor attending the re- 
newal of decayed \YOod, it would seem that this country ought to be 



3 

alive to the importance of preserving wood, in view of the results of 
European experience. 

I do not find there is any lack of interest in this subject, only a 
lack of knowledge and of faith. That there is a lack of faith is not 
strange, because, as a rule, preserving has not added much to the life 
of timber in this country. This is, no doubt, partly due to the fact 
that those who have constructed works here, have put up a flimsy 
structure to fill some contract, or had some stock-jobbing operation 
in hand, but also partly to the fact that the systems in use abroad 
are not fully adapted to meet the wants of this country. 

Had either European system been so, it certainly would have be- 
come general ere this. Our railroad engineers would not have con- 
tinued the use of natural wood for ties, which last only four to six 
years, if through the use of the Bethell system their life could have 
been increased to twenty or thirty years, as in England. 

Here let us consider what decay in wood is, what it is caused by, 
and what is needed to prevent it. There are two kinds of decay, 
known as Wet Rot and Dry Rot 

Wet Rot takes place in wood containing sap, which is exposed to 
moisture. It often commences in a living tree. It shows itself in 
the red streaks in the wood v,^hen felled, and woodmen recognize its 
existence even before the tree is cut down. It is wet rot which de- 
stroys railrogid ties, fence posts, telegraph poles and bridge timber. 
It is hastened by alternate moisture and dryness. 

Drtf Rot, so called, needs moisture for its development as well as 
wet rot. It occurs in close, confined, damp localities, where there is 
imperfect ventilation. As a rule, it flourishes most actively in un- 
seasoned lumber, but it also attacks seasoned lumber, when so placed 
that it can absorb moisture from its surroundings. Dri/ Rot is that 
sort of decay which is found in cellars and basements, between the 
ceilings and floors of houses, etc. Wood used in such localities is 
often already m a state of decay when placed there. It comes by 
cars or vessel direct from the saw-mill, and is framed at once, reeking 
with sap and moisture. 

It is dry rot which destroys vessels, owing to confined air ; the 
short life of wooden vessels is mainly attributable to this cause, and 
several of the methods for preserving wood were first used to prevent 
decay in the British Navy. 



In localities where dry rot exists, and has destroyed one set of tim- 
bers, the seeds of decay are there still, ready to attack new timbers, 
unless the conditions can be entirely changed by ventilation or other- 
wise, and often such a change is impossible. 

What is the cause of wet rot and dry rot ? It is due primarily to 
the fermentation of the albumen of the sap, which commences as 
soon as the necessary conditions, heat and moisture, are provided. In 
a living tree, the unmatured sap rises from the ground through the 
sap wood, and after being transformed by the action of the leaves into 
true sap for the formation of woody fibre, it descends within the bark 
loaded with sugar, acids, albumen, etc., and forms the annual growth 
of wood, holding in abundance rich sap within its cells and fibres. 
So long as the tree lives, these processes go on naturally, but when 
the tree is cut down, and the leaves no longer perform their functions, 
the abundant sap clogs the pores, and is in a favorable condition to 
be acted on by heat, and begins to ferment. 

Fermentation causes the rapid development of countless myriads 

of spores of fungi, always present. Animalculse and insects follovV, 

and the woody fibre is in time disintegrated, and although perhaps 

retaining the form of wood, it has lost all its strength and tenacity, 

and crumbles into pieces at the slightest blow. Rot is, then, the 

growth and development of fungus and animal parasites. 

• 
Preserving Processes. 

The prevention of the development of fungus, or its destruction 
with the animal life it nourishes, is, then, the object of the various 
processes for preserving wood. The coagulation of the albumen of 
the sap is the only result obtained by the use of the metallic salts. 
Coagulation prevents the albumen from fermenting, and the spores of 
fungi lie dormant; both vegetable and animal life are arrested. As 
a protection against dry rot, is not exposed to moisture, where wood 
these systems are useful, but when wood is exposed to water, they 
are of little value, as a rule. They consist in impregnating the 
pores of wood with watery solutions. It is certain they will partially 
redissolve by water, and leave the wood unprotected, always liable to 
absorb water carrying with it destructive elements. 

It is important, then, that the public should not confuse creosoting 
with Burncttizing, etc. These only act chemically upon the sap, but 
creosote oil, containing carbolic acid, cresjlic acid, etc., not only 



produces the same result chemically, but also secures dryness. Creo- 
soting fills the pores of wood with an insoluble oil, and covers the 
fibres with a film, which protects them from absorbing destructive 
elements from extraneous sources. The oil, which saturates the sap 
wood, and the outer pores of the heart wood, resinifies and hardens 
under the action of the air, and forms a waterproof and air-tight 
covering to the wood. If the heart wood be not too dense, it also 
absorbs a large quantity of oil, otherwise the oil absorbed by the sap 
wood works inwardly, being very penetrating in its character, and, 
in time, can be plainly seen through the whole tissue. 

It is dryness, then, and the waterproof and air-tight qualities im- 
parted to wood by its impregnation with creosote oil, which give it 
its superiority over every other substance used for preserving wood. 
The presence of heat and moisture is necessary to induce decay; 
heat without moisture is harmless. Wood absolutely dried by some 
artificial process of desiccation will not decay, if it can be kept per- 
fectly dry afterwards ; hence, wood, which has been dried, has been 
preserved. Wood once dried, and then so protected that it can under 
no circumstances absorb moisture, has been rendered practically 
imperishable, except from wear. 

W^hen wood has been treated by the Bethell system, if the work 
has been faithfully done, it will not absorb moisture, and is, there- 
fore, well preserved against decay. 

Why, then, is not the Bethell system sufiScient, you will ask ? The 
answer is simply because only dry wood can be efi'ectually treated^by 
the Bethell process, and in this country w^e must treat green lumber. 
No system of wood-preserving can be made practicable here, which 
does not embrace some efi'ectual method of drying green wood 
rapidly. 

This defect of the Bethell system has always been recognized in 
Europe, where ties and timber intended for creosoting, are stacked 
up from nine to twelve months to season. 

At a discussion on the preservation of telegraph poles, in 1876, Mr. 
Braine, Superintendent for J. Bethell & Co., London, made these 
remarks : '' Dryness is the principal quality required in timber that is 
to be creosoted. Timber is sometimes delivered dripping wet, and the 
creosoting firm expected to creosote it without delay. ***** 
It is perhaps better that timber should not be creosoted at all than 
creosoted moist." 



With us timber is used directly from the cars or vesseL We can- 
rot wait for timber to season. It is not cut from the log until needed 
for construction. We must be prepared to take timber as it comes 
from the saw-mill, and in a few hours season and preserve it. 

The Bethell system will not do this ; oil and water will not mix 
together. So long as the pores of wood are reeking with sap and 
river water, it is impossible to inject into them any preservative sub- 
stance. Hence, it is evident that the Bethell process needs some 
radical modifications before it can be adapted to the wants of this 
country. These modifications are precisely what have been made in 
the Hay ford patents. 

The important claims of the Hayford process are : Dryness before 
impregnation with any preservative substance, a complete coagulation 
of the albumen of the sap by heat, the evaporation of the watery 
portions of the sap, and the withdrawal of all moisture, sugar, acids, 
etc., in vacuo, leaving a pure wood fibre, fully preserved against decay, 
except from contact with air and moisture. There is no patent 
for the use of creosote oil. The Hayford patents cover improved 
processes for preparing wood to receive any preservative substance 
required, and apparatus for injecting such substance into the pores 
of wood thoroughly and rapidly. 

Apparatus. 

I will now describe, as clearly as I can, the apparatus used in the 
Hayford process, and then try to show wherein it brings about^ the 
results I claim. The apparatus is simple and strong. At my works 
at South Boston, I have endeavored to have perfect security from 
accident, and, at the same time, the best-fitted and strongest plant 
ever erected for wood preserving. 

It consists mainly of an 85-horse boiler, a pump, a tank to con- 
tain oil, and a cylinder in which the wood is treated. The cylinder 
is the most important part of the works, and upon its perfect con- 
struction depends the commercial success of the enterprise. It is 
100 ft. long, 6 ft. in diam., made of J inch boiler iron steam riveted. 
On either end, a cast gun-iron ring is riveted, which serves as a jam 
to a wrought-iron door made of plates -J inch thick, bent to a semi- 
globular form and riveted to a gun-iron ring of same dimensions as 
the ring on the cylinder. This door is hung to the cylinder by a 
hinge, which, however, acts as a guide only, the weight being 



supported bj a strong wheel, which rolls on a track with a solid foun- 
dation. A rubber gasket makes the joint between the rings perfectly 
tight. The cast-iron rings are pierced with bolt holes, through which 
36 bolts pass. On one end of each bolt is a case hardened nut, and at 
the other is pierced an eye, into which slips one of a series of steel keys, 
arranged upon a ring, which revolves about the cylinder by a screw 
motion, by which means all the bolts are fastened or unfastened at 
once. It is necessary to give a few turns to the nuts with a wrench, 
to make the joints perfectly tight, before commencing a treatment, 
or to loosen the strain when the treatment is over, and the doors are 
to be opened ; but by this simple mechanical contrivance, the great 
labor of opening and closing the doors is made comparatively easy. 

The cylinder rests on rollers, to allow for expansion and contrac- 
tion, supported on brick piers. This cylinder is a perfect piece of 
boiler work, and has been tested by hydrostatic pressure of 200 
pounds to the square inch. There is no leakage during the process, 
when the pressure reaches from 100 to 150 pounds. Great annoy- 
ance has been frequently experienced with cylinders made for wood 
preserving on account of leakage, and danger also from want of 
strength in the heads, generally of cast iron, which broke under the 
required strain. 

A railway track, 3 feet 4 inches w^de, runs through. the cylinder, 
and extends 100 feet beyond at either end, so that iron cars can be 
loaded with lumber at one end and be discharged at the other. Be- 
tween the tracks, at the bottom of the cylinder, lies a coil of steam- 
pipe 1400 feet long, which connects with the boiler at one end, and at 
the other has outlets both with the outer air and with the inside of 
the cylinder, that the steam, after passing through the coil, can be 
allowed to escape into the cylinder when desired. 

A series of perforated pipes is arranged around the inside of the 
cylinder, for the purpose of introducing the oil. These are con- 
nected with the oil tank. They are so arranged that, when the oil is 
let on through them, every stick of wood in the cylinder is at once 
bathed with oil. 

The oil tank is simply a receptacle to contain the oil, and of ca- 
pacity sufficient for the purpose. It is strong enough to stand a press- 
ure of 100 pounds to the square inch. A coil of steam-pipe, con- 
nected with the boiler, is laid through it for the purpose of heating 
the oils to the required fluidity. 



8 

A simple, but powerful, pump is so provided with valves and pipes 
that by opening one set of valves and pipes it is a force pump, and by 
closing these and opening another set it becomes a vacuum pump. A 
water-jacket around the air-chamber keeps it cool while in operation. 
The necessary piping to connect the parts together completes the 
apparatus. 

Hayford Process. 

The first part of the process is for the purpose of drying the tim- 
ber. 

The wood to be treated has been placed upon iron cars, and 
run into the cylinder, which is hermetically closed. Steam is then 
admitted through the coil in the cylinder, and after passing through 
the coil, it escapes into the cylinder itself. The temperature in the 
cylinder very soon reaches 180° Fahr. It rises very slowly from 
this point, the evaporation of the sap and moisture in the wood 
tending to cool the temperature. It is best that the heat should in- 
crease gradually and that it should be kept moist. If allowed to be 
too dry, the outer fibres of the wood naturally harden, and thus pre- 
vent the escape of the moisture within. To avoid this, and also to save 
all the heat, the exhaust from the pump is also admitted into the 
cylinder*. The pump is set at work to force atmospheric air into the 
cylinder, until the pressure gauge shows a pressure of 30 to 40 lbs. 
to the square inch. The object of this is to keep the wood from 
checking ; green wood, in large dimensions, when exposed to high 
temperature, has a tendency to check. A vacuum forms about the 
wood, arising from the condensation of steam, and the expansion of 
the moisture within the wood tends to throw apart its fibres. This 
tendency is counteracted by the atmospheric pressure above stated. 
And thus a higher degree of heat can be used in arying tne wood 
without injury to its fibres. 250° to 270° are sufficient to evaporate 
the sap. 

During the steaming process, a pipe in the bottom of the cylinder 
is kept open, to allow the escape of the condensation. By the same 
means is maintained a current of hot air, which is very efficacious in 
drying wood. The time necessary for drying wood in this process 
depends upon the quantity of moisture to be got rid of, and the size 
of the timber. Four or five hours suffice for boards and 2-inch plank, 
while ten or twelve are required for heavy timber. 



Albumen coagulates at 140^, so that that result — the only one 
claimed for the Burnettizing and Kyanizing processes — is easily 
secured ; but the sap and moisture cannot be got rid of, until they 
have been turned into vapor. Hence the necessity for continuing 
the steaming process until it is certain that all the portions of the 
wood containing sap and vapor have been heated to above 212°. 

When this point is reached, the direct steam is cut off, all valves 
opened, and the air pumps kept at work to drive from the cylinder 
all the steam, vaporized sap and condensation, which remain in the 
cylinder; in other words, to free the cylinder entirely. This occupies 
about an hour, and closes the second part of the process. Heat is 
constantly maintained through the radiation from steam coil. We 
then commence to pump a vacuum. 

The cylinder is once more made tight. The valves in the pipes 
connected with the pump, which made it a force pump, are closed; 
and those opened, which change it into an exhaust or vacuum pump. 
The vacuum pump is then set to work. There is, at this time, no 
appreciable amount of moisture in the cylinder, except what exists 
in the pores of the wood in the form of vapor. The vacuum pump has 
worked but very few minutes, however, when the vapors, partly con- 
densed in the pump, begin to pour from the nose of the pump, and 
they continue to come for hours, filling, if the wood be green, many 
barrels with sap. 

This shows the effect of the steaming process. If a cold vacuum 
had been pumped, when the cylinder was first closed, it could be 
easily done in less than an hour, but no water would have come 
through the pump, and the wood would not have parted with its 
sap. It is a common mistake to suppose that a vacuum alone will 
withdraw sap from wood. But after steaming, when the sap has been 
turned into vapor, then it is drawn out by the force of the vacuum 
pump, yet the vacuum is reached very slowly, on account of the vast 
quantity of moisture which is drawn from the wood ; five or six hours 
often elapse before the vacuum gauge indicates 24 or 26 inches of 
vacuum. But the sap having been withdrawn, the vacuum extends 
into the interior of the wood, if it can be properly so expressed, so 
that when the oils are let in, they are absorbed into the very heart of 
the wood. 

This brings us to the last step in the Hayford process, namely, the 
impregnation with the preserving material. During the drying process, 



10 

steam has been admitted to the coil in the oil tank, bringing the 
temperature up to about boiling point, to render the oils very limpid 
and penetrating. Creosote oil is heavier than water, weighing about 
9J pounds to the gallon, it congeals at about 60°, so that heat is 
needed to make it flow freely. 

Impregnation. 

I have previously explained to you that the oil is admitted to the 
cylinder through a series of perforated pipes, arranged around the in- 
side of the cylinder. A pressure of about 60 pounds to the square 
inch is brought to bear upon the top of the oils in the oil tank ; this 
pressure, together with the drawing force of the vacuum, make a 
force of about 75 pounds to the square inch, with which the oils are 
sucked and driven into the cylinder. Every stick is at once bathed 
with oil. The wood — being in a soft, somewhat spongy condition, the 
fibres porous, and the pores open — absorbs at once the hot, penetrating 
oil. If the wood be of a porous character, like pine, it absorbs all 
the oil required with the first flowing over of the oils, without any 
pressure ; but if the fibre be solid and close, and the timber of large 
size, a further pressure of from 60 to 150 pounds is needed during a 
certain length of time to make the impregnation complete. But the 
wood having been put into a condition to absorb the oil, the impreg- 
nation is more rapid and more thorough than by the Bethell process, 
where no other means are relied upon than a pressure upon hard, 
air-dried timber in a cold vacuum. 

The process is nov/ completed, and the doors at either end being 
opened, the lumber treated is withdrawn, and another charge takes 
its place. 

Value of Process. 

Now let us retrace our steps, and see whether, practically as well 
as theoretically, the advantages claimed for the Hayford patents have 
been realized. 

I have shown you that to preserve wood from decay, it must be 
placed in the following conditions: 

1. It must be rendered non-fermentable by the coagulation of the 
albumen of the sap. 

2. Dryness must be secured by the abstraction of the sap and 
moisture contained in it, as well as any sugar or acids, which would 
have a tendency to ferment. 



11 

3. Dryness and a pure woody fibre being secured, these conditions 
must be maintained by protecting the wood in some way from air 
and water afterwards. 

In reply, I claim: First, that inasmuch as albumen coagulates at 
140°, and that all the sap containing albumen is to be found in the 
sap-wood, and that it has been steamed to 240° or 270° Fahr., the 
albumen has thus been rendered non-fermentable. Moreover, 
creosote oil contains the most powerful coagulator of albumen known 
to science — carbolic acid ; hence, when injected into the pores of 
wood, it doubly secures it from fermentation. 

Secondly. By the action of the steam heat, and the subsequent use 
of the vacuum pump, the sap and water held in the wood have been 
vaporized and withdrawn from the pores of the wood, leaving a pure 
woody fibre. Nothing liable to ferment remains in the wood. 

(This system of drying lumber can be made very valuable for car- 
penters. In twenty-four hours green lumber can be seasoned more 
completely than in an ordinary dry-house in six weeks. For this 
purpose the drying process should be continued for some time after 
the vacuum has been reached, the heat being kept up by the radi- 
ating coil of pipe.) 

Thirdly. Freedom from liability to fermentation and dryness being 
secured by the earlier processes, the wood is made water-proof and 
air-tight by injecting the pores with creosote oil. 

Creosote oils are also called dead oils, or the heavy oils of tar. 
They contain from 5 per cent, to 15 per cent, of carbolic acid, and 
several other highly antiseptic and preservative constituents, besides 
parafiSne, naphthaline, etc., which all play their parts in the preser- 
vative processes. Heavy oils are produced in the distillation of crude 
CQ^l tar, as it comes from the gas houses. They come off after the 
light and volatile aniline oils, say at a temperature of 300° to 600°. 
The residuum is pitch. 

Creosote oil, forced into the pores of wood at a high temperature, 
being far more penetrating than any other oil, works its way through 
the pores until it covers every fibre with a protecting film. It resini- 
fies in the outer pores, and, impacting there, keeps the main body of 
oil within, and, being insoluble in water, it forms a water-proof and 
air-tight covering to the wood, and maintains absolute dryness. No 
matter where the wood may be exposed, it is protected from absorb- 
ing any fermentable substance. Hence, decay is rendered almost 
impossible. 



12 

The preservative qualities of the heavy oils of tar are not due, 
solely or chiefly, to one or more of its component parts, although 
several are esteemed highly as preservative substances ; but their 
eflScacy is due, chiefly, to the thick, greenish oil itself, which is 
insoluble. It is this quality, insolubility/, which gives to the heavy 
oils of tar their superiority, as preservatives, over chloride of zinc, 
sulphate of copper, or corrosive sublimate. These latter only co- 
agulate the albumen, they ofi'er no protection whatever to the wood 
itself; the woody fibres are as much exposed as ever to absorb 
destructive agents. But when wood has been injected with creosote 
oil, which works insidiously through its fibres, not only is the 
albumen coagulated, but the whole structure is so absolutely pre- 
served and protected, that its indestructibility is assured, except from 
actual wear. It is benefited on this score, also, as it becomes 
harder by time. Creosoted wood is the only wood which seems to 
improve with age. The oil seems to metalize the fibre like iron. 
Soft wood becomes hard, like oak. Sap wood becomes as hard and 
durable as the heart-wood. 

In the early part of my remarks I stated that the Hayford patents, 
for preserving wood, covered a system which is adapted to the wants 
of this country. This is mainly, as you have observed, because it is 
able to cope with green lumber. It can receive it from the saw-mill, 
and in 24 hours thoroughly season and preserve it. In fact, to do 
good work it is essential to have green wood. It is precisely in this 
condition that wood will readily absorb creosote oil, when the moist- 
ure has been withdrawn. In a living tree, the fibres and pores of 
wood are not hard and flinty, like those of kiln-dried or air-seasoned 
lumber, but are soft and porous. The cells act as so many millions 
of pumps, to transmit the sap from the roots to the leaves and return 
it again to form the annual layer of wood growth. When the sap 
has been withdrawn from wood in this condition, as has been de- 
scribed, without hardening the fibres, the cells and fibres are just as 
ready to receive or transmit creosote oil as sap itself. 

Creosoted Wood will not Decay. 

I have assumed that you are all familiar with the fact that wood 
thoroughly creosoted will not decay. This is a fact, proved by the 
accumulated evidence of 40 years in England. Creosoted wood has 
never been known to decay. Engineers in this country need not wait 



13 

a generation to learn that this is so. It was accepted as proved in 
England 30 years ago, and in engineering works the strongest testi- 
monials of the value of creosote oil, as a preservative against decay, 
are recorded by all the great constructive engineers in Europe, 

There is scarcely a railway in England which does not use creo- 
soted ties, bridge timbers and platforms, and the same roads use 
them to- day which began their use in 1840. The Belgian system of 
railways, which is under government management, uses creosoted ties 
solely, and the same is true of all the railways of Northern Europe. 

Some engineers here have told me that ties wear out before they 
rot. That may be true in some cases ; but I ask, if creosoted ties do 
not wear out in 20 years on the great roads in England, why should 
they wear out here ? It is a remarkable fact that it is difficult to find 
any old ties in England for specimens of creosoted work. These 
specimens from the Great Northern Kailwoy of England, which have 
been in wear from 10 to 14 years, were actually taken out of the 
road-bed to be sent to me. No piles of old ties lying by the side of 
the tracks, only fit for fuel, are to be seen in Europe as in this country. 

My belief is, ties begin to decay before they begin to wear out. 
As a rule, ties are half buried in the ground in a green state, full of 
sap in a fermenting condition. Wet rot sets in at once, favored by 
the exposure to alternate dryness and moisture, particularly under 
the rail, where the surface begins to decay at once, hastened by the 
rust from the rail ; at the same time the spike driven into the moist 
wood begins to corrode ; water v/orks down by the side of the spike, 
the spike loosens and plays, and then comes the trip-hammer action of 
the rail every time a train passes over it. It is no wonder the tie 
cuts and is thrown out, often within the first year. 

But with a creosoted tie the spike will not corrode and will not 
work loose ; the surface of the tie under the rail will not decay or 
wear, because not affected by alternate dryness and moisture ; there 
will be no play of the rail upon the tie, and consequently no friction 
and no cutting. No, there is every reason for believing that creo- 
soted ties will last here 20 years as well as in England, and their 
general use would be equal to a saving of 3 per cent., per annum, 
on the cost of the railways of this country. 

I have referred priucipally to the uses of creosoted wood on rail- 
ways, because they are the great consumers of lumber, but it should 
commend itself equally to architects, builders and carpenters. 



14 

Creosote as a Protection against the Teredo, etc. 

I have referred thus far to creosotirig as a protection against decay 
only, but it is equally a specific against destruction of wood by 
marine worms. This quality of dead oils is almost as important as 
their efficacy against decay. Bear in mind that from Maine to Texas 
there is scarcely a point on our coast, where our piers and wharves 
are not rapidly destroyed by the Teredo Navalis, or the Lymnoria 
Terebrans. 

On the table before me are specimens of wood destroyed by these 
ravagers at different points, in a few months or years, at Boston, Prov- 
incetown, New York, and the Gulf of Mexico. 

So far as I am aware, the teredo is not found north of Cape Cod, 
but the lymnoria is scarcely less destructive. 

In many places in the Gulf, the teredo will destroy large piles in 
a single year. They are found sometimes two feet long; 



Places where Ceeosoted Wood has been used 

AS A Protection against the Teredo, 

IN Great Britain. 



Port of Sunderland, 
" Teignmouth, 
" . Lowestoft, 

" Leith, 



Southampton, 

Brighton, 

Manchester, 

Portland, 

Holyhead, 



Dates. 


When 


When last 


exposed. 


examined. 


1839 


1859 


1842 


1849 


1846 


1859 


/ 1848 
\ 1851 


|l862 


1848 


1852 


1848 


1851 


1850 


1861 


1853 


1861 


1854 


1861 



Duration. 



20 
7 

13 

14 
8 
4 
3 

11 
8 
7 



years. 



The teredo infests the coasts of Great Britain, Holland, Belgium 
and France, and is quite as destructive there as here ; were it not 
for the use of creosoted piling, the piers of their harbors would re- 
quire to be rebuilt every three or four years. There is not an 
instance on record where a pile, impregnated with creosote, to the 
extent of 10 or 12 pounds to the cubic foot, has been approached by 
the teredo or the lymnoria. Piers built in 1850 are perfectly sound 
to-day. 

The importance of protecting these harbor works has been consid- 
ered so serious a matter, that most careful experiments have been 



15 

tried, extending through a series of years, under commissioners 
appointed by the different governments, whose official reports are ac- 
cessible to all. Every other suggested remedy was tried, and failed 
in every instance. The terrible mollusk or crustacean seemed to 
fatten upon every poison, and would manage to work its way bet^Yeen 
copper- or iron-headed nails or copper plates, but he turned his back 
invariably upon creosote.^ All the official reports agree upon this 
point, that creosote, and that alone, thoroughly injected into wood, 
will protect it completely. 

There is, however, one other remedy, and that is sewerage. It is 
fortunate that sewerage serves one good purpose. These enemies 
require clear, salt water, free from any brackishness. It carefully 
avoids a pier in New York, where a sewer empties, but it luxuriates 
in the next, which is free from that nuisance. 

The importance of creosoting ship timber should not be overlooked. 
I have specimens of birch before me taken from the side of a vessel, 
which had been six months at Key West, completelj^ riddled by the 
teredo. How often may it be that vessels, lost at sea and never 
heard from, have sprung a leak through some teredo eaten timbers. 
Remember, too, that dry rot would be prevented also, and, perhaps, 
all necessity for copper bottoms. It would seem that creosote is as 
useful at sea as on land. Its use is everywhere a true economy. 

Our own Government has the honor of being the first to creosote 
ship timbers. In 1872 creosoting works were erected at the navy- 
yard in Charlestown, under the superintendence of Mr. Hayford, who 
took charge of the treatment of the timbers for the "Yandalia," 
the vessel which is now the home of Gen. Grant, in the Mediter- 
ranean. 

Ttie ribs of the " Yandalia " are of live oak, but all the rest of 
the planking and decks, inside and out, w^ere creosoted by Mr. Hay- 
ford. This vessel was completed in 1873, and fitted for sea in 1875. 
Thus far no report has been made of her condition to the Department. 

It is well to select, for creosoting, woods which are porous and will 
absorb oil readily. Cheap woods, which, unpreserved, rot quickly, 

^ See papers by E. H. Von Baumliauer, on "The Teredo, and the means of pre- 
serving wood from its ravages;" Archives of Holland, Vol. I, 1854. Auguste For- 
restier, Engineer of Roads and Bridges; Annales Fran9aises, 1864. M. Crepin, 
Engineer of Roads and Bridges of Belgium ; Report of experiments at Liege, from 
1857 to 1867. 



16 

can thus be made more solid and more endurinof than the most ex- 
pensive timber. I think the cotton wood of the Southwest can be 
made as useful as oak for ties. White pine absorbs creosote like a 
sponge, and the yellow pine of the South takes it readily also. In 
England, fir from the Biltic is used altogether for ties, and I do 
not see why the despised fir from our forests may not, be used for 
the same purpose here. Hemlock is good also ; it holds a spike 
well. Spruce is a firm, compact wood, and absorbs oil with more 
difficulty, neither does it require so much to preserve it. Its sap- 
wood, where decay commences, is always saturated, and the heart, if 
treated green, shows more or less oil all through the annular rings. 
Oak has a coarse fibre, and is easily treated. 

The limits of a single evening are insufficient, Mr. President and 
gentlemen, to do justice to so important an industry as this. I thank 
you for your kind attention, and need not say that I shall be glad, 
as far as I can, to answer any questions which may lead to a clear 
and full understanding of a subject in which so many of you, I am 
sure, must feel a deep interest. 



The speaker presented, in support of his views and statements, a 
large number of letters from engineers in this and other countries, 
referring to some important works where creosoted timber had been 
exposed for many years, with the most satisfactory results : among 
which are the Yorkshire and Lancashire Railway, England, Southern 
Railroad, France, the Leith Pier, Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Among the letters is the following, referring to the 

Wearing of Railroad Ties. 

,^ r» A , 17 '' Boston, Feb. 6tL 1878. 

*' Edward R. Andrews, Esq., ' ' 

''Dear Sir: — In answer to your enquiry, I will repeat what I said 
at a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, on 
the subject of treated and untreated railroad ties. I have been of- 
the opinion for some ten or twelve years, that the frequent remark 
that 'railroad ties will wear out [i. e., cut through) before they will 
rot out,' is an incomplete and misleading statement, as it is usually 
made. It supposes that treated (creosoted, kyanized, Burnettized, 
etc.) railroad ties -will wear and cut the same as untreated ones; 
whereas the fact is, as shown by the records of foreign railroads, 



17 

beyond dispute, that treated ties wear longer, do not cut through so 
quickly, and hold the spike longer than untreated ties. I have my 
own explanation of this fact, but whether the same is correct or not, 
is really a matter of no especial importance. What we are after are 
the facts. Still, I will give the explanation that I have arrived at for 
my own satisfaction, submitting the same to criticism. It is that, 
after all, what we call 'cutting through,' 'wearing out,' 'refusing 
to hold the spike,' etc., in railroad ties, is nothing more or less than 
rotting, with this single distinction, that it is a local rotting, a decay 
in certain spots and places only, and not that of the whole body of 
the tie ; and that, therefore, a treated tie, which resists decay better, 
any and everywhere, within it and on its surface, will wear longer, 
cut less, and hold the spike longer. 

" The first time I had occasion to reason in this manner, was in 
observing the dropping down into the ties of the cast-iron chairs of a 
piece of ' English ' double-headed rail track on the Boston and Al- 
bany R. R. The chairs were frequently an inch and an inch and a 
half imbedded in the tie, and the cup so formed was filled with water 
after every slight rain or heavy dew, and it seemed to me plain that 
this concentrated wetting and drying in that spot could not fail to 
rot the tie faster right under the chair than elsewhere ; and adding 
that to the pounding action of the traffic over the road in the same spot, 
it made clear to me why the tie wore out before it rotted out, and at 
the same time satisfying me that a ' properly treated tie ' would 
behave better under the same circumstances. 

"Respectfully yours, 

" Clemens Herschell, 

" Civil and Hydraulic Engineer.'' 



18 



TESTIMONIALS AS TO THE EFFICACY OF CREOSOTE 
OIL IN PRESERVING WOOD FROM DECAY, AND 
THE ATTACKS OF MARINE WORMS. * 

Extract from a letter, written by James Forrest, Secretary of 
" The Institute of Civil Engineers," London. 

^^ London, England, Sth June, 1877. 
"Edward R. Andrews, Esq., Boston. 

^^ Dear Sir: — In continuation of my letter of 31st ult., I have to 
say that one of the principal ' creosoters ' in this country, states, in 
reply to my enquiry, that ' there is nothing very fresh or recent to 
communicate on the question of creosoting timber; it is now almost 
universally used in England for the preservation of sleepers and other 
timber for engineering purposes, and also for the preservation of 
timber employed for piers and harbor work in sea-water infested 
by marine insects, such as the teredo navalis, and the lymnoria tere- 
brans, against the ravages of which, when properly and thoroughly 
employed, it has been found to be quite efficacious.' 

*' The Avhole of the creosote produced from the distillation of tar 
in England, is now used for this purpose, and it has often been a 
matter of surprise that the Americans have not used this process in 
their country, as they have coal tar there, which they could distil. - 

" In France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, the use of creosote 
is steadily on the increase. 

" Yours, Faithfully, 

".James Forrest, /Secretary.'' 



Office of the Superintendent of Streets, City Hall. 

Boston, Jan. 14:t7i, 1878. 
Edward R. Andrews, Esq. 

Dear Sir: — Ten years ago, when I built the house where I now 
reside (179 Warren Ave.), I put down a border of pine wood around 
the fiower beds in the back garden. At the expiration of three years 
these borders were so much decayed, that I was obliged to replace 
them, which I did with wood creosoted by Mr. Ilayford. To-day 
these creosoted borders, after being in the ground seven years, are 
perfectly sound. I cannot discover a single decayed spot in them, 
not even in the joints. 



19 

A year ago I made a slight alteration in the garden, and took up 
a piece of the border about three feet in length, which I gave Mr. 
Hayford to show to you, a short time ago, and which I presume you 
have now in your possession. It is painted green on the portions 
which were exposed to the air, the other portions were covered in the 
garden loam. The border still in the garden is in as good condition 
as the piece in your possession. Yours very truly, 

Charles Harris, 

Superintendent of Streets. 



Boston^ 14:th January^ 1878. 
Mr. Edward R. Andrews, No. 4 Post Office Square, Boston, Mass. 

Dear Sir : — In response to your enquiry, we take pleasure in sta- 
ting that in June, 1872, we laid a flooring on our cellar, using planks 
creosoted under Mr. Hayford's process ; this flooring is exposed to 
the atmosphere and to the ebb and flow of the tide, being frequently 
submerged. During the present winter, while making extensive 
alterations in our buildings, we were compelled to take up a large 
portion of this flooring, and found all the planks so moved in a per- 
fect state of preservation, as good, apparently, as when first laid. 

We are, very truly, 

Geo. F. Blake Manuf'g Co. 



Manchester Mills. 

Manchester, N. H., April \e>th, 1877. 
Edward R. Andrews, Esq., Boston. 

Bear Sir : — Your favor of the 14th rec'd. The floor referred to 
was formed by bedding the timbers in the dirt, three inch plank laid 
on them, and a board floor over the plank. 

The timbers and plank were of spruce, and prepared by a process 
of creosoting. This floor was laid some six years ago, and thus far 
shows no sign of decay. The timber so treated becomes very light, 
dry, and does not warp, but of some 500 M ft. of creosoted'^spruce 
that I have put in wet, damp, and poorly ventilated places, none has 
as yet given out, although No. and So. pine have rotted in the same 
places in four years. Yours truly, 

J. Stone, Agent. 



20 

38 King William Street, 
London Bridge^ E. C, June Xlth, 1874. 
Messrs. J. G. Moore & Co., 96 Wall St., New York. 

Geyitlemen : — As it appears you have never received ours of Jan- 
uary 29th, in which we promptly answered yours of January 9th, we 
repeat it as follows : 

We can put 10 lbs. creosote per cubic foot into yellow pine, and 
have put 12 lbs. into some red fir, but this is rarely done. The 
usual quantity injected is 8 lbs. for ordinary timber, and for timber 
exposed to the sea worm 10 lbs. Of white oak we have no experience, 
but we are creosoting French oak in Belgium, and also oak from the 
Baltic. Into sleepers of such wood we put from 3 to 4J lbs., some- 
times 5 lbs. ***** j^ jg impossible to drive the oil into the 
heart of the wood ; the sap of the wood is impregnated and a water- 
proof coating or envelope is thus formed, which renders the wood 
impervious to air and moisture, the oil dissolves the resin of the sap 
and coagulates with its albumen, and follows in deeper in the course 
of time to the centre of the wood. ***** "We have assumed 
that you do not require any evidence as to the value of creosoting as 
a preservative. We have lately, since the adoption of the process 
by all the government and railway engineers, ceased to collect evi- 
dence, but we shall always be very happy to send you any which has 
come in our way. We are, gentlemen, yours faithfully, 

John Bethell & Co. * 



New York, May 2StJi, 1870. 

Sir : — In reply to your inquiries concerning the preservation of 
■wood in Europe, I beg to say that one of the principal objects of my 
recent trip abroad was to obtain full and accurate information upon 
this most important subject. 

My investigations were conducted in England, Scotland, Ireland, 
France, Belgium, Prussia, Russia and Austria, and Avere continued 
for nearly four months. 

On several of the roads I traveled over, I found creosoted ties 
were' already over twenty years in use, and still sound as when first 
laid. 

Baltic fir — a timber resembling American hemlock — is generally 
employed for ties in Europe. When creosoted, it lasts without decay 
as above stated ; while, uncreosoted, it decays in from three to four 
years. . 

The spikes driven into these creosoted ties show no corrosion 
whatever after this lapse of time, and the rail is consequently hehl 
more firmly to the tie. 



21 ^ 

I found the density of the wood much increased by the action of 
the oil, the fir ties acquiring almost the density of our oak. 

The use of these creosoted Baltic ties is almost universal upon the 
following, among other roads, which I observed, many of which have 
a heavier and more constant traffic than the average of American 
railroads, viz.: Lancashire and Yorkshire; London and North- 
western ; London, Chatham and Dover ; Midland ; Dublin and Drog- 
heda ; Midland Great Western of Ireland; Great Southern of 
Ireland; Great Northern, of France; and the railways composing 
the lines from Paris to St. Petersburg, via Cologne and Berlin ; 
Berlin to Vienna, via Dresden and Prague ; Vienna to Paris, via 
Munich and Strasbourg ; and Paris to Brussels. 

I must say, in conclusion, that an experience so thorough and 
exhaustive, with results so satisfactory, should be accepted as suffi- 
cient, and that we should await for no similar experiments here to 
convince us of the economy, as well as practicability, of preserving 
our timber by the use of creosote oil. Yours, etc., 

George Shepard Page. 



Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. 

Manchester^ August 14^A, 1865. 

Last month I visited a portion of the line which had been laid 
with these sleepers in 1846, and I am glad to be able to report that 
the whole are as fresh and sound as when first laid down, not the 
least signs of decay being apparent. 

During a period extending over upwards of nineteen years I have 
creosoted about one million of sleepers, and large quantities of tim- 
ber of various kinds, and from all my experience, gained during that 
time, I would strongly recommend to be creosoted all timber to be 
placed in exposed situations, such as sleepers, telegraph poles, lamp 
posts, fencing, etc. I remain, dear sir, yours very truly, 

B. J. Badge. 

P. S.— The creosoted road generally wears out three or four sets 
of rails in, as well as out of, tunnels ; and when the main line is 
relaid, and such sleepers are taken out, they are used again for sidings 
and branches. I find that about one per cent, get split at the ends, 
and so rendered useless for their original purpose, but they are then 
sold for gate posts, fencing, etc., and are much sought after. 



22 

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. 

Storekeeper s Office, Miles Platting^ 

Manchester, February 21th, 1874. 
D. M. Owen, Esq. 

Dear Sir : — You stated that your friends expect that we should 
force the creosote through and through. This cannot he done, and 
is not necessary ; but after a piece of timber has been tanked, cross- 
cut it, say a foot from the end, and place it in the hot sun, for a few 
days. You will then see how far the lighter parts of the creosote 
have filtered towards the centre. 

For your information, I may state that this company have tanked, 
under my superintendence, over 1,500,000 sleepers, besides longitu- 
dinal and crossing timber, and if the process has only prolonged the 
life of the timber by one-half, I think I have saved the company a 
considerable amount of money. 

I took up a couple of paving blocks, that have been in our turning 
shop under grindstones and lathes, exposed to wet and dry for 
twenty-six years ; they are in perfect condition, showing no signs of 
decay. Respectfully, 

R. J. Badge, 
Mechanical Engineer, Lancashire ^ Yorkshire Raihvay. 



TRANSLATION. 

Southern R. R. Co., France, OflSce 54 Boulevard Haussman.* 

Paris, December 24:th, 1877. 
Monsieur Gruner, Inspector General of Mines, Paris. 

Dear Sir : — In reply to your favor of 21st Nov. ult.,. asking for 
information regarding the use of pine ties creosoted by this company, 
I have the honor of addressing you the following statement. 

(Signed) E. Huyot, 

Director of the Company. 

EXTRACT ONLY. 

*' The first creosoted ties used by this company were placed in 
1857 to 1860. ' They were prepared by a contractor, and impreg- 
nated with 7*272 kilos, of oil per tie. 

" The company creosoted at their own works in 1869 about 10,000 
ties, using 14*090 kilos, per tie. 

" The company is now having ties creosoted by a contractor, using 
from 5-454 to 7-272 kilos, per tie. 

» Clicmin do for du midi from Paris to Bordeaux. 



23 

" The pine ties prepared with creosote do not show, at the end of 
seven or eight years, any appreciable alteration in their exterior 
character. This is the report upon the actual condition of the ties 
prepared and put to_ work in 1869. The company has no precise 
statistics as to the duration of the pine ties, creosoted and used from 
1857 to 1860, but I can state that a part of those ties are actually 
in use after a service of 17 to 20 years, and that the balance were 
withdrawn rather in consequence of wear, than from decay of the 
woody tissue." 



Report respecting Creosoting at Leith. 
3 East Register Street, 

Edinburgh, 26th March, 1862. 

Sir : — In consequence of your letter to the Commissioners of the 
Leith Pier and Harbor Works, they appointed a sub-committee of 
their Board to inspect the works, and see the state of the creosoted 
timber, of which the Leith Pier was constructed in 1850. 

It was ascertained and admitted by all, that unprepared wood is 
completely eaten away by the worms, at this place, in three or four 
years, and that, if the piers and woodwork had not been creosoted, 
the whole would have been destroyed in four years. 

LEITH PIER. 

The Main Piles. — These were very carefully examined by Mr. 
Robertson and the Commissioners' Superintendent, hut in no instance 
could they find that the worm attached them. They were creosoted 
with ten pounds per foot, and these 'piles are 1013 iii number. 

The beams supporting the deck planks, consisting of forty-two 
beams, 27 feet long, 13 inches by 16J inches, wer^ next examined ; 
they appeared to be perfectly sound, except in one instance ; this 
beam was eaten all over, and must have been badly, or not at all, 
creosoted. 

The next were the walings and cross-ties ; they were all perfectly 
sound, except, in several instances, the ends of them were eaten hy the 
worm; it wa^only in that part of their ends which had been cut — the 
other portions of these pieces were perfectly free from the attack of 
the worm ; they are 13 by 6J inches, creosoted with seven pounds to 
the foot. 

The iron s.pikes that were drawn out of the beams with the planks, 
were the same as if newly made ; not the slightest appearance of 
rust being upon them, although they had been in the wood and sea 
twelve years. This I pointed out to the Commissioners. 

To enable the committee to see the planks properly, several of 
them were lifted, which showed them to be considerably eaten on the 



24 

under side, except the portions that rested on the beams, which had 
the appearance of being newly creosoted, being wet with oil. 

A.lthough these planks have lasted twelve years, I am satisfied 
that had this low landing slip been laid with deals perfectly dry, in 
place of planks cut off logs, and impregnated with ten pounds of oil 
instead of six, there would not have been any decay at all. 

These planks are not eaten in the same way as an uncreosoted 
piece of timber ; uncreosoted timber is eaten on all sides, the insects 
attacking the outside and eating inwards ; whereas, in creosoted 
timber, the insect gets in only at the heart, at the exposed end, and 
eats to the outside. I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

P. M. MoiR. 

Note. — The total quantity of timber required for repairs of this 
pier, up to the present date, July, 1864, has been 400 cubic feet. 



To obtain information as to the present condition of the Leith 
piers, I wrote to P. M. Moir, Esq,, in May last, and in reply received 
a letter, from which I make the following extracts : 

" Sterling, 16th June, 1877. 
"Edward R. Andrews, Esq., Boston. 

''Bear Sir: — I have had occasion several times since 1862, to 
examine the Leith piers, and report upon them ; I may say, always 
in favor of the creosoting process. The main piles stand as sound 
to-day as the day they were put down ; the only portion w^hich has 
given way or been removed, was the low water slip ; this had been 
imperfectly done at first, but since proper repairs were executed 
there has been no decay, so far as I am aware." 

Mr. Moir further adds : 

*' I have had a very long experience in creosoting, and can, with- 
out hesitation, say that no other method is its equal. 

" I may mention that all railways in this country have now their 
own creosoting establishments, so the trade in private hands is very 
much reduced. 

" I heartily concur in the statement, that timber thoroughly im- 
pregnated with creosote oil, becomes practically imperishable. 

"Yours, &c., 

"P. M. Moir." 



^^rj 



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